The present invention relates to a machine and a method for slowing down a series of iron sheets traveling in close succession after each other along a production line.
The present production lines for iron sheets comprise a reel from which a roll of metal band is unwound, a flattening machine, a shearing machine, a conveyor belt ending in a collecting pit, and the collecting pit possibly housing a stacking device.
The iron sheets which are formed at the shearing machine are transported by means of the conveyor belt into the collecting pit, to which they arrive at the same speed as that of the conveyor belt.
Each iron sheet which comes to the collecting pit is stopped by bumping into a stopping shoulder installed on the pit wall opposite to the direction of travel of the incoming iron sheets. The stop shoulder is advantageously coated with a suitable material, capable of easily absorbing the impact energy without the iron sheet being damaged.
In order to limit the damage caused by this impact, the operating trend has always been to look for soft materials which are also tough, and thus resistant to the shearing effect performed on them by the impact of the iron sheet.
With the adoption of faster and faster production lines, serious difficulties have arisen in finding suitable materials for absorbing the kinetic energy of the impact. In fact, with increasing values of the kinetic energy of impact, it is necessary to have available softer and softer materials, in order not to damage the edges of the metal plate, which are simultaneously tougher and tougher in order to withstand the shearing effect of the iron sheet. This is obviously impossible.